What Lies Beneath
by MiriahoftheWind
Summary: When Vio, another Irken, crashes to Earth and finds Zim, Zim discovers a dark plot for the universe where for others there maybe no future. Now Mali and Cam, the Right Hand girls of the Tallest must find the crystals of the sun before it's too late.......
1. Wish upon a star

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

Part 1: Wish upon a star

Invader Zim sat on his roof in his Irken self. The city had go through a blackout, again. He sighed and looked up into the sky. He never felt so home sick. Zim closed his eyes and imagined he was home again on his home planet, Irk. 

"Aww, what's the matter?" Zim opened his eyes to see G.I.R. in his robot self. 

"Nothing." Zim muttered.

"Nothing?" The tiny robot replied, "It doesn't sound like nothing to me. Somebody needs a hug!" G.I.R. hugged his master and squashed some of his organs. 

"G.I.R.! Just......Just leave me alone. Nothing's wrong." 

G.I.R. began to cry. Zim couldn't have any attention drawn to him while he wasn't in costume.

"O.K., O.K., I'll tell you what's wrong!" he said quickly. Just as fast as G.I.R. began to cry he began to smile and went and sat with his master.

"I'm very homesick G.I.R."

"Awww, you miss Irk."

"Yes G.I.R., I'm sick of these humans and their ways. They're inefficient, lazy, sloppy, and miserable. All they do is annoy each other. I want to talk to someone who's Irken. I want to talk about Irken things, argue about Irken politicks, eat Irken food, cheer at Irken sports, and check out Irken females." Zim sighed as G.I.R. sat and listen, "What would I give to feel the warmth of the triplet suns or the glow from our 75 moons?" He paused and closed his large eyes and imagined his home once more.

"Irk was like that?" G.I.R. asked amazed and wondering what things were like on Irk.

"Yes. You wouldn't know these things. The only planet you have ever been on is Conventia and this spinning ball of mud. It's not good for you, ya know." Zim added, "You should have times when your with your fellow robots, not pigs and monkeys. You should swap information with them or chart out black holes and their magnitude or boast how many planets your master has invaded." Suddenly a shooting star went flying pass. Zim closed his eyes and wished for something extraordinary to happen to take his mind off his home planet. The star seemed as though it was trying to land. Finally it landed in a deserted area. There was a loud drone and then there was a flash of red lights the green lights, red lights and then green lights. Zim gasped,

"The distress signal!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. The Arrival

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

Part 2: The Arrival

Zim and G.I.R. had taken the cruiser out to investigate and just as Zim suspected, a fellow Invader had crashed on Earth. Zim landed and he and G.I.R. went out and approached the crusier cautiously. 

"Hello?" Zim called, "Is anybody here?"

"What do you think? Would an Irken space craft crash into a planet if nobody was in it?" came a voice from inside. Three creatures came out of the ship. One was a tall Cosovian. Cosovians have large angle like wings and a tail that could be used like a sickle. Their eyes change color depending on the light. The lighter it got the "white" of their eyes would get an extreme light purple. The darker it got the "white" of their eyes would be a great dark purple. Their skin is like a chalk white and the women have long blue hair while men have short red hair. The color of her eyes were a hazel and her pupils were a neon green. The second creature that came out was a small robot that looked exactly like G.I.R. Zim recognized it as being an A.I.R. or Advanced Information Retrieval Unit. The last figure that came was an Irken only a head taller then Zim. She had large purple eyes and her antennas were very curly. (If you watched "The Nightmare Begins" and saw the scene where Zim is given G.I.R. You would see a Irken-female with large purple eyes. That's her.)

"Hellooooooo." G.I.R. asked politely

"Little robot I am Invader Violah! I've just been followed by space pirates when trying save the Princess of Cosovia." Violah announced as she pointed to the Cosovian with her, "I need to get your lord and master to take us back to his home base in which we will wait until the chaos from Cosovia dies down and her Highness becomes her Majesty. This kind of operation is completely urgent and requires your full attention." 

G.I.R. looked blankly at the Invader and said in reply, " I'm dancin' like a monkey." With that said G.I.R. started his monkey dance.

"What's a 'Monkey'." Violah said in bewilderment

"That's not important!" said Zim, "We have to get all of you back to the home base we can't leave anything behind or..."

"Or what?" said a very familiar voice from behind Zim. Zim turned around and it was Dib with his camera and sack of water balloons. 

"Afraid I might find you. Well I did. Now who what's your plan little space man?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. Would you call an Invasion By Any Other ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3: Would you call and Invasion by any other way

"And what plan did you have when you found us?" The Cosovian glided foreword to Dib.

"Be careful, Princess, the humans are dangerous and unstable. They might offer you as a sacrifice to their pagan gods." Zim told the her.

"I will not! He's trying to destroy my planet! Any one would do the same to save their planet." Dib countered.

"If this is so," the Cosovian asked, "then where is the rest of your race? If anyone would do the same, then why are you the only one here?" 

"Nobody will believe me! But now I have proof. Maybe the rest of you aliens will understand that the Earth isn't a push over planet that's there just to be conquered." Dib snapped.

"I'm not here to that." the Cosovian siad.

"Then what are you here for?" enquired Dib. The Cosovian sighed and began her story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	4. The Rescue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4: The Rescue

"I was born in the city of Aupdoeshayohaunklandreaunkwei (A/N: pronounced [ah-p-doe-shay-O-aunk-land-dray-aunk-way]) on the planet Cosovia. I was the daughter of Empress Shweish (A/N: pronounced [sh-way-sh]) and Emperor hoyshayhoy (A/N:[hoy-shay-hoy]). My name is Shlanddoelandshaytan (A/N:[shh-land-doe-land-shay-tan]) yet I'm called Shland as a nickname. I grew up with Zim's leaders the Almighty Tallest; Purgelian, who is now call Purple, and Reddickus who is called Red. They were both once Invaders who would hang around my parent's palace telling me stories of distant planets and their inhabitants. Then last week I was in the Library reading books in our Ancient Language when rebels broke into our home. Red and Purple found me and save my life when they hid me in the air vent. I could watched from above when they slit my parents throat and it was only Purple's hand on my mouth and Red holding me back that stopped me from attacking them. They knew they had to keep me safe for the sake of Irk and Cosovia. Cosovia, ever since the dawn of time, has always have a King and Queen. As for Irk every Irken is a soldier if not an invader so they never have time to plant crops or harvest them or prepare food so, as our ancestors have done before us, done it for them. They in turn share 50% of all the land they conquer so that Cosovia is an equal empire. The Almighty Tallest took me to Irk in tears and sent me with Invader Violah..." 

"Please, call me Vio." Violah interrupted. Shland smiled and continued her story, "and her A.I.R. to Invader Zim who happen to be the farthest away from my home planet so that I will be safe from the ruckus back home. This is why I'm here." 

"Your story's fascinating Shland." Dib said. This was what Dib wanted all along. An alien, not one like Zim who would conquer Earth, but one like the Empress who was peaceful and would willingly share information of what was out there and the universe and who would hopefully help the human race evolve into something better than power hungry animals. Suddenly there was a rustle in the bushes and Zim noticed that Dib was surprised because he didn't bring anyone with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	5. Secret of the Necklace

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5: Secret of the Necklace 

"Hey Dib! Give me the batteries to your camera mine have run out in my GameSlave2!" Gaz yelled from behind the bushes. 

Shland glided over to Gaz and touched the screen of her GameSlave2. It flashed for a couple of seconds and then the batteries were regenerated. 

"Whoa, cool, how'd you do that?" Gaz said astounded. Shland smiled, "I've been doing that eversince I was a child." Zim and Vio hopped in their crusier and motion Shland to climb in. 

"Wait! Will I ever see you again?" Dib yelled. Shland paused to think for a moment then she took off one of her necklaces and gave it to Dib.

"I want you to have this to remember me by. Hopefully I'll see you soon." The necklace was obviously ancient and Dib could only wonder what unique bond that could be shared between the such a peaceful race, like the Cosovians, and such a unpacific race, like the Irkens.

"Cool design." Gaz said out loud. Dib looked at the centerpiece. At first glance the average ordinary earth-monkey would of thought it was a spider web but as Dib examined it closely he noticed that it didn't have the exact same pattern. Under normal circumstances if this was from Earth this would have been totally acceptable. But this was not, it was from Cosovia. 

"Is this your planets symbol?" Dib asked but they were gone. Everyone. Gaz had gone home and Shland had certainly gone back to Zim's house. He sighed and walked back home it had been raining quite hard lately and he stop to put the necklace on. He turned toward a puddle and saw his own reflection and for once he liked what he saw. The necklace seem to round it all together. He walked home and went immediately to his room. He went on his computer and scanned the center piece of the necklace. He did a close up on the parts that were bumpy or places that the spider-web didn't look like a spider-web. He that there were tiny ruins that were engraved on the necklace. 

"Were has this been familiar?" he wondered out loud. Eventually figuring it out he search his room and found one of his "CROP CIRCLES" Magazine. He searched for one of his Magazines. He held up a certain picture to the computer screen and gasped.

Breathlessly he said, "The city of Atlantis is a Cosovian city."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	6. Vio and Shland's Disguise

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 6: Vio and Shland's disguise

"I refuse to wear this." Back at Zim's base Zim had Shland put on a black skirt and a pale blue blouse. 

"This is the way 'good girls' look. This is what my studies of Earth say." Zim said.

"Empress Shland is right. This outfit says, 'I'm a weak little female, who is dependent, whiny, and unintelligent.'"Vio replied. She wore a bright pink dress.

"And look what you've done to A.I.R.!" Vio said holding her robotic unit. A.I.R. looked just like G.I.R. except that A.I.R. was black all over instead of green and around her neck was a bright pink bow.

"Do I have to wear this Sir?" A.I.R. asked. "It's itchy." 

"Yes. You do. And when we're out of the house don't talk. 'Dogs' aren't suppose to talk. The bark." Zim said. Shland, Zim, and Vio walked out of the house and walked towards skool. Shland looked up at the sign in confusion. She spent all of last night studying all the human languages: Dutch, Italian, French, German, Spanish, and English. 

"Skool? Isn't it spelled S-C-H-O-O-L? Because that's how your research on the language says."

"The humans spelled it wrong and didn't change it. Go figure."

Zim replied as though he expect such a reaction from a superior race when questioning the acts of a very inferior race. All the way in the school library Dib was looking up on the Internet everything about aliens. After all, he was kind of a spokesperson for the entire human race. He made a bad impression, Earth would be destroyed. But if he made a good impression, perhaps she could persuade Zim and his people to give the Earth some slack, and maybe help advance it. Yet he could find nothing on Alien signs of peace, and absolutely nothing about Irkens or Cosovians. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He jerked up and saw Shland outside the window in between Zim and Vio. This was it. It was now or never.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	7. No Day But Today

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 7: No Day But Today

(A/N: Okay, I the things in brackets or [] are from a song called 'No day but today' and its buy the musical Rent. I don't know the whole song so I wrote what I could.) 

  
  


[This is it. This has set.]

Dib stood on top of the school steps over looking the playground. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Gaz came over and said, "Are you sure you want to do this? What if your wrong?"

"What if I'm right?" Dib asked. Everything that he had studied and worked for would all come down to this. It was his ultimate test. He could pull off a good relationship with the Cosovian people his race would be saved. He had to get the aliens to a safe location. A place where gossip, rumors, and Saucer Morons wouldn't be a problem. Like the library.

[Forget about regret.]

Dib hesitated. What if Shland didn't trust him and wouldn't come? Even if she did they would have start some kind of conversation. But what if the other kids gotten to her first? What if she really believed that he was crazy and unstable? No, Dib thought, without me the Earth is doomed and I can't do it alone. 

[No other road. No other way.]

Only the Irkens could call this Invasion and they would listen to Zim. Sure Zim was a nut, but he knew his own people. The only real problem was getting Zim to listen to him. Shland could talk to Zim. Irken and Cosovians had a very tight and strong relationship. One couldn't and wouldn't survive without the other. Perhaps the human race could be part of this and make it a triangle, but what did his race have to offer? Perhaps he should do some more research on the positive aspects of Earth.

[No day but today.]

No. By then it could be to late. Dib stuck his hands in his pockets. His fingers hit the medallion and the page he tore out of his magazine whose symbol matched the pendant. That's what they would talk about. Their race. Their culture. Their religion. He had to do this toady. Other wise it would be too late. He put the necklace on and walked down the school steps. Nervously he and Gaz made his way to Zim, Vio, and Shland. 

"Um. Could I see you guys in the library?" Dib asked shyly. All three of the aliens looked at each other, not sure what to say.

"Tak al ma lanca faka miora." Zim said to Vio and Shland. He said it as though he was accusing Dib of a crime.

"U hadwa niki shik untha?" Vio asked. Dib looked at them in confusion. Maybe they're speaking ancient Irken Dib thought

"Ih dio thwa hey shey ta." Shland said. Dib guessed what Shland was speaking was ancient Cosovian because her speech was much quicker and her pitches were sometimes high and sometimes low. 

"XiXi! Ayd ino shiv!" Zim said in a panicky sort of voice.

"Ahwt aevh ew tog ot seol, Zim?" Shland asked. Zim nodded and turned to Dib, "Alright human. We'll come with you but if this a trick vengeance shall be mine!" They followed Dib and Gaz into the Library and Dib looked around. The library was completely empty except for the sleeping Librarian. 

"What did you need to say to us that's so secret?" Shland asked.

"Well, you are the heir to an Empire so surely you have studied the history of your people." Dib said.

"Yes. I have, many times." Shland said. Her eyes widened and she turned to Zim saying, "Do you think he knows?" 

"Oh coarse not, nobody but the Cosovians and the Irkens have known about that and only you know how to retrieve it." Zim scoffed

"Know what? Retrieve what?"Dib asked.

"It's an ancient secret Dib. A secret that I can not yet tell." Shland said. Dib's stomach twisted into a knot. Was that secret about Atlantis?

"Would your secret have to do with a city called 'Atlantis'?" Dib asked. Shland, Zim, and Vio's mouth opened wide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	8. Questions Answered

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 8: Questions Answered

(A/N: Okay a lot of this story is taken from the game Atlantis: The Lost Tales. This game is the production of Cryco and DREAMCATCHER games. Yet it shows something we should all think about so I include it in this story. Plus isn't it fun to play out the game and pretend it to be something like Invader Zim?)

"How do you know about the lost city of Atlantis?" Zim asked.

"And how did you know that we would know of it?" Vio also asked. Dib pulled out the piece of paper and took off the necklace. He put them both side by side.

"See? The symbol on the centerpiece of the necklace is the same as the symbol on this wall! I knew that you weren't from another planet so I figured that Atlantis wasn't a city created by my race but maybe it's yours or Shland's." Dib replied. 

"I knew it." Shland said, "Zim they're after it."

"You don't mean..." Zim said and Shland nodded her head. 

"But that can't be....They would have to find the Dark......." Vio trailed on. 

"What's going on?" Dib asked. 

Shland sighed and started another tale, "Long ago Vio and Zim's people and my people considered them selves the same race. We don't know much of our history any earlier of that point. We do know that we once lived on an island called Atlantis. We did notice that we were two separate species because we could not breed one Irken with one Cosovian. Sometimes Cosovians and Irkens would just get married anyway and then adopt a child. Atlantis was a small island, but it is said that is how are ancestors wish it to be. Are ancestors had no idea why they came here and where they were from, they had no knowledge of their history. There were also another kind of race." Shland took out her a large slate that had the picture of a prehistoric man and a prehistoric woman. "We think that this race is your race Dib!" Shland said excitedly smiling.

"What did you call our race?" Gaz asked curious. Shland smile faded from her face and she look at Vio and Zim for support. 

"You should tell them the truth." Vio said solemnly. 

Shland looked at Gaz and Dib, "Our ancestors didn't record any names except one; Barbarians. I'm sorry." Dib hopes were crushed even before his people knew about other alien races they were considered savages.

"Did your people live in a palace?" Gaz asked.

"Yes. In those times it was the oldest building. It was the greatest and most epicurean. Unfortunately our ancestors made no records of it's structure. It had many amazing rules including a throne room, a library and the legendary Dolphin room. Our ancestors also built two towers. One Tower was dedicated to the Moon where the eternal Tree of the First. The other is dedicated to the Sun where the Flyers are moored. The city of Atlantis didn't believe it to be necessary to change. They never built unless they absolutely needed to. They say that there were secret room and passage ways into the palace built by the first Queen and Consort." Shland said.

"Queen? You guys were once ruled by a queen. I thought you were and empress?" Dib asked.

"I am but once our people were ruled by a Queen, a Cosovian to be precise. An Irken would be her Consort, a male Irken that is. Although both Cosovians and Irken are considered equal, for some strange reason a Female Cosovian and a Male Irken were always the leaders of Atlantis. There has been no record of an armed conflict between any other race and Zim and my peoples so the duties were purely for honor. Atlantis required very little government. Our people were always content to live in Harmony. Everyone had an occupation, shelter, food, clothing, and care." 

"Is that all your race did? Live in harmony? Didn't your ancestors ever have any fun?" Gaz asked.

Shland thought for a second and replied, "Well there were the festivals that were recorded. There were two Lunar festivals and one 

Solar festival. The royal consort's status is challenged every 7 years. On the Solar festival is the Summer games, which male Irkens compete to be champion. The winner of the Summer games goes on to defeat the consort in a different special game. It was called 'The Challenge' although nobody knows what the challenge is, we do know it was held in a secret room in the palace and if the consort won he would be consort for another 7 years and if he emerges victorious after that then he'd be consort for another 7 years until he loses. If the champion wins he becomes the Consort and the cycle starts over again."

"Wait a minute. Your people has all these things about the sun and moon. Did your peoples once worship them?" Dib asked.

Shland smiled and said, "Yes. The Atlanteans worshiped one god and one goddess; Ammu and Sa'at. Ammu is the moon goddess her cult is organized by women. This religion is about peace and understanding. The priestesses live not only on Atlantis but all around the world. There are or, were, priests of Sa'at. They organize both the Sun games and 'The Challenge'. They say that Ammu was a Cosovian herself and she created my people and Sa'at, her consort, created Irkens and that he was and Irken. According to legend Ammu and Sa'at were trying to create one more being but they did not know whose image it should be of, so they combined both of their images. It did not mix well and that is how the Ancient Cosovians and Irken think your people came about, Dib and that is why they also believed that they could not have children. A Cosovian and Irken I mean. Another legend says that Sa'at created boats that could sail through the air and Ammu created a type of Crystal Energy to navigate and control them. Another says that in the beginning before either race was created, Sa'at went off alone to hunt without telling Ammu. He came across a great monster, a great and hideous creature of unlimited strength. Sa'at was sure he could tame the beast, but soon found himself trapped in the monster's powerful tentacles. Sa'at may have lost his life if Ammu hadn't come looking for him. She vanquish the creature and sent it back into the cosmic ocean. Sa'at had been changed by the battle and was sometimes prone to acts of violence. Ammu sent him away to fight a beast she was sure that Sa'at would be able to defeat. This is were some races, even today, believe that all Cosovians are calm and wise and all Irkens are vicious and violent although this isn't true. This is all our Mythology now. We believe in a being that came to every race spreading the same religion on every planet. He took the form of those creatures, always being born from a virgin. His name was Jesus Christ."

  
  


(A/N: Please don't be mad at me. I'm a Catholic and that's how I came up with Irk and Cosovia's current religion. I didn't mean to offend any Muslims, Jews, Bundists, or anyone else with religious or non religious beliefs. When I mean non religious I mean you believe we're just born and we just die. No Reincarnation or Heaven or Hell or anything.) 

Gaz and Dib's mouths dropped open. They suddenly regained themselves and Gaz asked, "What's a Flyer and what's Crystal Energy?"

"A Flyer is like a wooden boat our people used to observe the rest of the world by air. They would be seen flying through the sky day and night. The Crystal Energy is a precious crystal that the piolets used. Nobody knows where the precious Crystals came from or if there are hidden reserves somewhere tucked in the deep corners of the universe. The only Crystal that now known to exist is this one." Shland held up a necklace like Dib's except Dib's was wooden and much smaller. Dib's was the size of a close, tight fist. Shland's was around the size of an open extended hand. Shland took a deep breath and continued. "On Atlantis, there is a limited and dwindling number of them, some large and some small. The small ones belong to families and were handed down from generation to generation. The larger Crystals were found on the Flyers. The Crystals cannot be manufactured during the days of Atlantis and cannot be manufactured now and nobody knows where new ones can be found. Training to be a piolet is a long and difficult journey. It is written that you had to harmonize and once you did that you had to learn different symbols that stand for different parts of the world. Once you learned them, so did your Crystal."

"How is it that you have all the records yet your people have been away from this planet for so long that you've forgot where it is yet have all the records and what do any of them say about, our people? I mean, Gaz's people? I mean my people? What about the Human Race?" Dib asked.

"It is said that one day, the Cosovians and Irkens did not get along as usual and their was a fight. It angered a inactive but not yet extinct volcano and the volcano erupted. Many of our people drowned. Yet most of us escaped and we used the last of our crystal power to transport us to two planets that revolved around triplet suns and both planets shared 75 moons. One planet was purple and it would soon be known to the universe as Cosovia. The other planet was red and would be know as Irk. They say as soon as they settled on that planet. The first Cosovian child born was Jesus Christ. He preached to us about God and started our current religion. Three days after he died he was born and Irken and he preached to them. It says every time he died, three days later he would be born again among a different race, spreading his wisdom."

"Yeah that's kind of what we had, except when he died on our planet he is said to have descended to Heaven." Dib replied.

Shland nodded, "One of the people saved was a scribe who brought all his recordings with him and he did record things about your race Dib. The Atlanteans thought it would be for the best to avoid contact with the rest of the world, and prefer all other people to reamin in complete ignorance of the existence of their island and their civilization. The reason for this is not that they were jealous of their relativity advanced knowledge, their architecture, Crystal Energy, or Flyers. It is because they believed it would be irresponsible to interfere in the development of the rest of humanity. Our ancestors once believed that they had no right to tamper in a race's progress. Once."

"Is that why your parents were killed? For the Crystal Energy?" Dib asked.

Shland sighed and a ink-black tear rolled down her cheek, "If only it were that simple, but no. What they are really after is the Hidden Knowledge."

"What's the Hidden Knowledge?" Gaz asked.

"It's Knowledge's most powerful form. There is no answer in the world that it couldn't answer. The whereabouts of it are buried with Atlantis. I'm afraid that as long as it is remained a secret the more luring it becomes to the wrong hands. The only way we can save the universe from tempting destruction is to go to Irk. There The Almighty Tallest can secure a room in which we could go back in time and secure it before anyone else can. Zim, you could take us back to your home planet can't you?"

"Yes."

"Good. I can use my crystal to adjust your voot-crusier's speed. The sooner we get to Irk the better."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	9. Back on Irk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 9: Back on Irk

In a little bit of time and a Doom song Shland, A.I.R., G.I.R., Zim, and Vio were already on the Massive. The guards escorted them to the Tallest who were surprised to see them.

"My Tallest, the princess of Cosovia, Princess Shlanddoelandshaytan, is here to see you."

"Shland? She's still alive?" Purple said. 

"They must of made it out of the void in time!" Red said, "Bring her in." Purple commanded. They stepped forward to the Tallests. 

"Zim? Vio? What are you two doing here?" Red said.

"Reddickus, there isn't much time. It seems are enemies have found a way to elude time and space. They are after the Hidden Knowledge. Secure the library with your most trusted guards." Shland said and then she turned Zim and Vio "Your siblings are already in the library. We will need there help too."

"How do you know that?" Dib asked.

"Cosovians have a condition you humans call ESP." Shland said. The Tallest went off to go find what was left of their family while Shland and her group went to the library. The Library was beautifully decorated. It was filled with billions upon billions of books. It held maps and paintings on the walls. Dib looked at the covers and saw books in different languages, besides Irken and Cosovian. 

"Vio? What are you doing here? What is that?" There stood a tall Irken almost an inch taller than Vio. He had dark green skin and purple eyes just like Vio. He looked at Dib with shock and amazement. 

"We're here for the same reason you are. That is Dib and this is his sister Gaz. They're Earthlings. Dib this is my brother, Verde." Vio pointed out.

"Zim!!!" Another Irken who was a female hugged Zim around the middle. She had light lime-green skin and red eyes like Zim.

"I missed you too, little sister." Zim said after she let go and let him gasp for air. 

"This is my sister, Zet." Zim announced. At that moment the Tallest came back with five other Irkens. They all had the same skin color as the tallest, who were also brothers. The first one was around 5 years old and had pink eyes and a curly attennas. Her name was Pink. The second one was a set of twins who were both 11 years old. One was called Hue, he had midnight blue eyes and the other was Mot, who had orange eyes. The next was also a set of twins who were 16. One had light blue misty blue eyes and the other had blue eyes. The misty eyed one was called Tai and the other was called Blue or Harma. (If anyone is interested my sister created "My Life" which is Harma's diary) Everyone was nervous until someone came in. "My Tallest, Your Highness," the soldier bowed and continued, "It is seemed that all the rebels have been caught except for four! They have broken into the museum in Caif, Irk and stolen the triskel and stolen the three sun crystals and have hid it somewhere on Earth."

"We should send our right hands." Purple said.

"What are 'right hands'." Dib whispered to Zim.

"They're the top Irkens, right under the sub-tallest. They do all kinds of important missions."

Red nodded in agreement and yelled for everyone to hear "SEND IN THE RIGHT HAND'S!!!!!"

(A/N: Okay if there is anyone out there who would like to be a right hand person then all you have to do is review and leave your Irken name, e-mail address, description, and why you would make the best right hand. I say right hand instead of "right hand man" or "right hand girl" cuz I don't know who to choose yet. The requirements are you have to give me a reason and YOU HAVE TO BE AN IRKEN!!!!! No other races will be excepted. Oh, and you have to put your e-mail address. You can be either Purple's right hand girl or guy or Red's right hand girl or guy. You can't be both. I will choose two people. You will get in your e-mail box a letter whose subject title shall be "What Lies Beneath". )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	10. Mali and Purple's Right Hand Girl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 10: Mali and Purple's Right Hand Girl

In walked in 2 Irkens. One was Mali Red's Right Hand Girl and Purple's Right Hand Girl who is....um.......Purple's Right Hand Girl!

They both saluted and Mali looked down and noticed the short things. She HATED short things with a passion but she liked Zim. She liked his psychotic initiative.

"Greetings Mali! Greetings Purple's Right Hand Girl! You have gathered here because something awful has happened." Red announced.

"Don't tell me the smoothie machine is broken!" Purple's Right Hand Girl said sarcastically.

"Um, no. Unfortunately 4 rebels have escaped to Devil's Ridge, Scotland, Earth. They have taken with them 3 crystals of Invader Sirdach and the Cosovian Triskel. It's is said to be a powerful weapon but I don't know what kind of weapon. It's your job to recover all 4 objects and bring the rebels back to Irk. You two have been assigned to the Devil's Ridge Manner as maids. I want you to be very very very very very very very very very very very careful. The rebels know you're coming and have excellent disguises. You have to stop them before they take over the universe." Purple said.

"Yeah, that's our job." Red answered.

"What our job?" 

"Taking over the universe."

"Ohhhh yeeeaaaahhhh. I almost forgot about that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	11. Tak's Situation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 11: Tak's Situation

"Sweet. Irken. Soil. I'm FREEZING!!!!!!!!!" Purple's Right Hand Girl said, "Plus we have to wear these skimpy-looking outfits." They were the traditional uniform of a maid: black and white with an apron and everything. They walked up to the house where they were greeted by the butler Mr. Shastra. They were brought into the drawing-room where in came the Mrs. Ursula McFarley. She was a very old woman with a blue dress on. According to the Tallest this would be the Devils Ridge was where the crystals were. It's was also own by the McFarley's. 

"Oh. You're the new maids, aren't you. You have arrived at a horrible time. My Husband has disappeared. He's been kidnaped and my daughter Moira won't be back until tomorrow. She would have known what to do." Mrs. McFarley wept.

She then looked up and said in that scary horror movie way, "It's him. It could only be him. His anger is beyond measure. He came to avenge himself and he brought EVIL. It is a story beyond your understanding. Nothing you can do.......NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO.........." Mrs. McFarley then fainted. She was revived and taken to her room my Mr. Shastra who said, "Your room is on the second floor. Once you have unpacked your things, you may go clean the Kitchen and when Mrs. McFarley uses the call bells, go get the locket lying on the sofa and put the pills in her tea. Then bring it to her."

"Sweet. Irken. Soil." Purple's Right Hand Girl said

"Bloody Hell. What could have possibly frighten her so much, Purple's Right Hand Girl?"

"Hey! I DO have a name and it's Cam."

"Well, sooorrrrryyyy. Zim was right about this place. The Humans here are nuts."

"Oooooo." Cam said as she looked down on the desk right next to her. Mali came over and picked it up. Mali read out loud:

  
  


Theft from the Edinburgh Museum!

The book of Kelia, written by the Ancient Celts, was stolen from the Edinburgh Museum last night. The police have found no trace of the thieves. A collection of amber disks was also stolen from the museum a few days ago.

Cam look picked up a book on the desk. It was on the study of Electricity and Magnetism.

"Well, look what the Blorch rats dragged in." Mali said with disgust. Cam looked up too. It was a fellow maid except she was Irken. She clicked a button on her sleeve and revealed her self. It was Tak. 

"What are you 2 doing here?" Tak asked. Cam and Mali changed out of there costumes to show, at Tak's surprise, that they were the Right Hands. Tak gave a small kind of gasp.

"Were here looking for a couple of cowardly short things who DARE to destroy our empire." Mali said. Cam and Mali both stared at Tak. 

"What? Do you mean me? I wouldn't honest! Ask anyone! Ask Zim! He knows." Tak said. It was a desperate shot to ask for Zim's help but once again she was at the wrong time in the wrong place. Mali reached into her pocket and pulled out what seemed like a blush container. On the inside it was covered with buttons instead of blush and where the mirror should be there was a screen. Mali pushed a black button and Zim face popped on.

"Invader Zim reporting!"

"You recognize this girl?" Mali said showing the Tak the screen.

"Unfortunately." Zim said with some zest of hatred.

"Zim, listen to me! They think I'm a traitor to the empire! You know that I'm not!" Tak said. Zim thought for a moment and then replied, "Well, TAK. I strike you a deal you can't refuse."

"What?" 

"I'll get the Right Hands off your back and you in return help them. Then just come with them back to Irk and I can help you get to take that test you want to take to become a soldier."

"No! That's cheating."

"But it's what you want, isn't it? To become an soldier? An Invader maybe?" Suddenly a black cat came by. It changed into a robot called, Maymay. 

(A/N: I think that's the name)

"Yes. Alright deal." Tak said, "But you better be as good as your word. NO! Even BETTER!"

"Don't worry," Zim assured and grabbed Vio, "I got my instruction manual right here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	12. Splitting Up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 12: Splitting up

Tak, Mimi, Cam, and Mali changed back into their human costumes and went up into their room. It had wooden floors, green and blue walls and one center bed. In one corner was a desk and in another corner was a changing stand and a table with a bowl and a pitcher full of water. They eyed the water and step back a few steps. The room over all was very 1930's. Suddenly there was a little beep that sounded a like a cell-phone call playing Irk's national anthem. Mali took out the blush container/transmitter and answered the call. It was Zim.

"The Tallest has put your stuff in a brown satchel on the bed where the humans put in your room. Do you have it?"

"No, but we see it." Mali said eyeing the brown bag.

"Good! The tallest each want you to have one of the communicators. There are also some other supplies they themselves have prepared. They want you to call me if you found out anything, anything at all, and I'll report it to them." 

"We've found nothing at all except one of the major museums, this one in 'Edinburgh', have been robbed with no traces of the thieves and the owner of this manor has been kidnaped."

"How very funny. Considering all human robbers leave some sort of track. Although humans are incredibly dense.....they know a clue when they see one. It would take advance technology to be able to elude the earth authorities. Maybe our kind of technology. It probably is, sense now someone has stolen a human that this establishment belongs too.......and the crystals are hidden somewhere here. See if you can find out more about it. Invader Zim out."

And with that Zim logged out. Tak felt her heart beat for a second as she made her way toward the bed and opened the satchel. It was just as she hoped. The Tallest had put in two communicators. One for Cam and one for her since Mali already had one to begin with. 

"We should split up. I'll go check the sitting room and upstairs. Cam you go check the kitchen and the Mr. McFarley's room. Tak you go and see the laundry room and Mrs. McFarley's room. Then we'll all meet at the attic entrance."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	13. Mali's Route

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 13: Mali's Route

(A/N: Chapter 13, 14, and 15 are going to be one of those three chapters happening at the same time thing.)

Mali went through the sitting room. She found a pocket knife, camera, rope ladder, ink, paper, a key, a canteen with a liquid of some sort, some pills, and a sack of fine, white, dust. What seemed to interest the most was the pills, caned liquid, and the sack of fine, white, dust. Mali looked around to see if anyone was there. The room was completely empty. She took out her blush and called Zim.

"Invader Zim, reporting for duty!" he said.

"Zim, there are some substances I found that might be worth finding out."

"Turn the blush upside down and open that part. You'll see that you can send samples that way and we'll call you back. Is that all?"

"Yes. Right Hand Mali out." Mali said. She close the compact and then did as Zim said. The blush on the outside was like a girlish pink but on the inside it was black with the Irken symbol on it. There were small slots for the use of transportation of clues. Mali put one pill in, one drop of liquid in, and a little bit of the white powder on it. She closed the slots and pushed a small blue button that said 'send' in modern Irken. She closed her communicator and went up stairs toward the attic. She yanked at the handle but it was lock. The door looked pretty worn out so she tried pulling harder. Finally she lost her temper and started pounding on the door. Abruptly her communicator rang. Mali took it out of her pocket and opened it.

"Right Hand Mali, reporting for duty!" Mali said.

"Mali, according to the scientists back on Irk the pill you sent us is a called 'Ritalin'. It's purpose is to lower ones ability to be hyperactive." Zim reported.

"That explains the old lady." Mali muttered.

"As for the powder it's copper-oxide."

(A/N: Copper-oxide is used as a dust that brings out fingerprints.)

"And the liquid?"

"It's a type of Earthling drink called 'Bourbon'. You should be able to drink it if you wish. Invader Zim out." And with that Zim vanished. Mali sighed and closed her eyes. She picked up the paper, ink, copper oxide powder, the pills and the locket key, and held them in her hands. She changed from an Earthling form to an Irken form. The six items disappeared. Cam had telekinesis and could realize when her friends wanted to give her something important and could receive it. Mali changed back into a human, sat down, and sighed. It might take a while before Cam or Tak came back she thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	14. Cam's Route

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 14: Cam's Route

Cam suddenly got a feeling. It was a message from Mali. Mali wanted to give her something but what? She closed her eyes and placed out her hands. When Cam focused she could transport objects. Cam turned from an Earthling to an Irken and six objects formed in her hands. Then when the transportation was complete she changed into and Earthling once more and she opened her eyes. In Cam's hands lay paper, ink, copper oxide powder, the pills and the locket key. She put them in her pocket. Cam came into the kitchen. She focused and tried to pick up the vibes that came from certain objects that would be useful or handy or lifesaving even. Cam went to the sink and grabbed a rag. She then moved to drawer and picked up a candle. She look to her right and had a sense. Something was that was in a small box that hung on the wall. Cam opened it herself, in case someone was watching, and in it was a small pass key. One of the call bells rang. Cam jumped from the sound of something going off in silence. She looked at the call-bell. Her powers sensed that Mrs. McFarley wanted her tea. Cam looked behind her and there was the tea. A battle played in her mind. One was her Irken loyalty saying she had to complete any mission that the Tallest gave her. The other was her Irken pride that said that she, besides the Cosovians, was part of the greatest race ever and she would die before serving another race. Her powers kicked in again and she sensed that Tak was right above her in the laundry room. Cam walked over to the tea that rested on the dumb-waiter. She put the pills in the tea and put the locket key beside the cup on the saucer. Cam then pulled the lever right next to the dumb-waiter and it went up into the laundry room. She walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway. She walked up the stairs that led to the second floor. She went to Mr. McFarley's study. It was locked and it angered Cam. She was about to use her fire power and burn the door down when she realized that she had the pass key. She reached into her pocket and it un-locked the door. As Cam walked in her powers picked up an object. She sensed it was some kind of paper of important value. She walked over and opened the cabinet that she sensed vibes from. The paper was a Memorandum on how to use a satellite fax machine. Cam's senses picked up again and she walked over to the desk that was in the corner. On one side it was covered with fingerprints. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the copper-oxide powder put some dust on the finger prints and then blew on them. The powder stuck to the fingerprint's moisture and Cam then took some ink and carefully used her telekinesis to add just the right amounts of ink. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. She placed it over the fingerprints and the ink stained the paper. Cam had an exact replica of the fingerprints. Sensing no more vibes Cam made her way to the attic where she found Mali waiting for her.

"Should we wait for Tak and MIMI or should we look in the attic?" Cam said.

"We can't go through the attic. It's locked." Mali replied.

"So? I could just burn it down. You know I have the fire-power to burn 9 developing countries."

"That's not the point, Cam. What are you going to tell the Earth-Stink when they see that half of the attic is blasted open? No, we'll wait for Tak and then we'll see whether we need to burn half of the fortress down or not." Mali suggested.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	15. Tak's Route

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 15: Tak's Route

Tak went up into the laundry room. As soon as she walked in the dumb-waiter came up a couple seconds later. Tak took the tea and stuffed the locket key in her pocket. She walked over to Mrs. McFarley's room. Mrs. McFarley was in bed but not asleep. Where she put the tea down on the night stand.

"I know what you really are..." Mrs. McFarley said. She pushed the button that revealed Tak's true form.

"And I won't tell a soul." she finished.

"YOU HUMAN!!!! How dare you put an Invader out of her disguise! If you weren't an old female and dying in her bead I'd slice you into pieces!!!!" Tak threatened. Mrs. McFarley smiled at Tak and noticed that MIMI came by Tak's side and switched into it's S.I.R. form. Mrs. McFarley looked back at the angry Irken again and her smile faded she took the tea off the night stand and drank it. Afterwards she said to Tak, "Three crystals......" this surprised Tak a bit but then she listened carefully as the old lady continued, "three jewels, three tears of night for the banshee! She's waiting for them. The banshee could help you. Often she walks near to the Celtic cross. In the dead of night. Look in my chest of jewels. If you're here for what you've claimed to be for....you will....understand....." Before Tak could ask how Mrs. McFarley knew about her mission Mrs. McFarley had already fallen asleep thanks to the Ritalin. Tak sighed and started looking for through her stuff. She found a bottle of Chloroform and a picture of the banshee with the Celtic cross, mead, and Phalaenopsis. Tak then noticed on the counter a small box. She took out the key from inside her pocket and opened the box. There was nothing there but another small key. Tak placed that key in her pocket and headed up the stairs where she was greeted by Mali and Cam. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	16. The Crystal of Sunlight

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 16: The Crystal of Sunlight

"Well, what took you so long?" Mali said as she saw Tak in her human self.

"Nothing but that ghastly McFarley human knows we're Irken. She was all blabbing something about 3 crystals and maybe the banshee could help us or something like that." Tak answered. 

"Strange, how very strange. Now can we burn the building down?" Cam requested.

"Why? Is it locked, because that McFarley told me something about her chest of jewels and I found this." Tak said as she reached into her pocket and took out her key. She walked forward and put the key in it's slot. It unlocked the attic door and all three walked in. As they did the door slammed behind them and they were locked in.

"It seems like McFarley isn't the only one who knows we aren't from this galaxy." Mali said with a hint of sarcasm but Cam only shook her head.

"My centripetal perceives say that, that was no human. There is something Irken in that organism that would make him or her tell we weren't human." 

"We should spread out and search for clues." Mali said although it sounded more like an order.

"How can we? It's so dark." Tak said. 

"Allow me." Cam said. She looked around and noticed that there was a candlestick holder. She walked over and place the candlestick that she found in the kitchen. Then she focused on her powers and her eyes shot out lasers that put the candle's wick on fire giving enough light to look around.

"Now let's search clues." Cam said.

"Would this count as one?" Tak said as she held up a crowbar. 

"No, but we could find away to get out of here with that." Mali said.

"Hey, look at this." Cam said. The other two Irken females walked over and saw that Cam was holding a book full of pictures. One of them was of Allistar McFarley, the man who recently went missing. Cam stuffed it into her purse and Mali then called Tak and Cam to come to the other side of the room.

"What is it?" Cam asked. Mali held up a map and Cam and Tak smiled. All three knew that Cam could sensor her powers on a certain point on the map and transport them there. With the map safely tucked in they both set out to another part in the attic. At first there was nothing there but some boxes and a boarded up window but as they left they heard a sound that cause to be heard like a wounded Orca whale. 

"What was that?" Mali asked. Tak took the crowbar and ripped the boards out. All three peaked out the window to see a herd of Loch Ness Monsters and then one out all by itself. 

"Isn't that unusual." Cam said, "To have one sticking out like that and there's something funny about that one. Something different." Mali reached into her pack and took a picture with an old-fashion human camera. Tak then picked up the crowbar and went to the door on the other side of the room that was opposite of the one they were locked out of. They walked down a corridor that lead to the laundry room. A banshee flew out, saw them, and then disappeared. 

"What on Irk's name is that?" Tak said. 

Mali shrugged but Cam replied, "It was the banshee the McFarley human was talking about." Suddenly the wallpaper ripped showing a message not in English but in Irken. Mali, Cam, and Tak, turned around only to read:

ONE OF THE POWERS OF THE SUN SHINES BRIGHTER IN BOURBON

"'Bourbon'? What's 'Bourbon'?" Tak asked.

"It's a kind of alcoholic beverage that the humans get drunk on. I have some in this container thing." Mali said, "I saw some glasses on the drawing room table. Let's go and pour some that way we can look for clues and just look like your average cleaning-human taking a break." They went down stairs through the corridor and into the drawing room. Each of them poured them selves a glass yet there was still no-sign. 

"Hey, what is this?" Tak said angrily. Mali sniggered.

"What?" Tak said a little hurt.

"Nothing, you just kind of sound like Zim for a moment." Mali answered.

"I AM NOTHING LIKE.....ZIM! WE HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON!!!!" Tak said angrily in disgust.

"Sure you are; your both short, your both willing to die for the empire, you both try WAY too hard, and you both want to be known as great Invaders. The only difference between you and Zim is that Zim has more fighting spirit. He refuses to give up and because of that usually succeeds where you fail." Mali pointed out.

"AND IN WHAT DOSE HE SUCCEEDS IN?!?! DESTROYING OUR PLANET?!?! MOCKING OUR SPECIES?!?!? ANNOYING OUR TALLEST WITH HIS STUPID LITTLE REPORTS?!?!?" Tak said angrily at the fact the one Irken who put her on Janitorial Services was considered better than her.

Cam had to put in, "Well, Tak. Zim would also know better than to argue or even YELL at a Right Hand which, I may point out, is the most highest job you can take except for being the Tallest. You may have more self-control and as much will as Zim, but Zim knows his place." Tak stood there dumbfounded. Cam was right of course, you didn't yell at your commanding officers or anyone of a higher status. Especially if you wanted to excepted back into the Irken Empire, like Zim, or wanted a promotion to a better job, like Tak. M.I.M.I. changed into a robot picked up what was left of the Bourbon and poured it into a cup on the table. When she picked up her cup ready to take a sip she dropped it surprised.

"M.I.M.I.! What are you doing? Are you trying to......" Tak was cut off short. In the middle of the puddle of bourbon and smashed glass was the first crystal of the Triskel: The Sunlight Crystal. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	17. Mali's Report

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 17: Mali's Report

"Sweet Almighty Tallest. Is that what I think it is?" Mali asked. Cam shook her head. Yes, it's the one of the crystals belonging to the Triskel." Mali stooped down and picked it up. It was a pink crystal about the shape of a cell-phone. Mali turned on her transmitter and waited for Zim. After a few seconds there was the screen came alive. 

"Greetings, My Right Hands!" Zim recognized.

"You know Zim you can always call me Mali, just not in front of important people or when representing the Empire."

"Um, very well Mali. What do you have to report?" Zim said.

"I have just found one of the crystals of the Triskels: The Sunlight Crystal."

Mali reported. Zim put on his headphones, pulled out his microphone, and started talking to the Tallest.

"Right Hand Mali has found The Sunlight Crystal, my Tallest......Yes......Uh-huh......very well.........Yes! Right away my Tallest." Zim said to the microphone. 

After wards he put his equipment away and spoke to Mali, "The Tallest wish to speak with you Mali. They want to speak with you alone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	18. Mali's Report (part 2)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 18: Mali's Report (part 2)

The screen turned from Zim to The Almighty Tallest. Mali sharply saluted and the Tallest replied, "Greetings, Mali." Red said and then he turned to his brother and co-ruler. 

"Didn't you want to her something?" Red enquired. 

"You have to asked her! She won't listen to me!" Purple said, "It's the same with Cam, she'll listen to me but not listen to you." 

Red sighed, "Very Well. Mali! Have you captured the rebel-traitors yet?"

"No, my Tallest. I found the stone in one of the human storage of bourbon." Mali replied.

"Bourbon? What is bourbon?" Purple wondered out loud.

"What are you looking at me for? I don't know." Red said.

"It's a kind of human drink the humans get drunk on. Usually because of anxiety or depression at which they get hooked on it and can not stop drinking." Mali reported.

"Very Well, your dismissed." Purple said. Mali continued to stand there much to Purple's annoyance, "See? That's what I mean! That's what I'm talking about! We need to get new Right Hands." 

"They work fine watch! Your dismissed Mali." Red countered. Mali turn off her transmitter and went back to work.

"See." Red sniggered. 

Purple rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He went back to the Kitchen to grab a soda. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	19. Search for the Phalaenopsis

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 19: Search for the Phalaenopsis

"What did the Tallest want?" Tak said. 

"They wanted to know if we caught the rebel-traitors yet." Mali replied.

"Maybe we should summon this banshee-thing." Cam said. She then took the parchment out that had the paper with it, "We need the Celtic cross, a earth-flower of some sort and this 'Mead'. What's a 'Mead'?" 

"It's a type of drink that is also alcoholic made by fermenting honey and has fruit juices in it. It ranges from mild to extremely strong that make your taste pores explode. I see the humans drink it all the time. M.I.M.I.! Find some Mead." M.I.M.I. changed from a S.I.R. to a cat and Cam, Mali, and Tak followed M.I.M.I. to the corridor and to a room on the other side. They opened the door and found that it was a like a lounge. M.I.M.I. went on the other side of the room and started pawing at a large glass chest. While Tak picked up a bottle of Mead on one of the tables Mali went over to what M.I.M.I. was pawing at. Mali rubbed the dust of the glass yet she saw no jewels. Mali was nevertheless curious and reached into her inventory and found a pocket knife. She took the knife and started to pick the lock. 

"What are you looking at Mali?" Cam asked. 

"This chest." Mali opened a box in the glass chest while the other two Irkens gathered around. It was an old document that was labeled, "Auld Alliance Treaty". 

"M.I.M.I. find a information center." Tak commanded. M.I.M.I. turned back into a cat and ran upstairs and down another long corridor to a library who entrance had red curtains while everyone else followed her. It was an old library where books mounted upon other books. Cam raised her hands to pick any sense. She came to a niche on the side of the wall. In the niche was a plaque with the symbol of a dragon on it. She look towards the desk and on it lay a small book.

"Hey you guys, look at this!" Tak and Mali came forward. It was a book filled with pictures and on the cover it read that it belonged to 'Moira McFarley' 

"I think it's a human sketch-pad of some kind." Tak said. Cam found a page that showed a human flower that none of the Irken warriors had ever seen before. The flower was a purple Thistle. They turned the page to see yet another Earth-flower this one was a white flower even more beautiful then before called an Edelweiss.

"Have you ever seen anything like it, Mali?" Cam asked in awe. Mali shook her head. No flowers ever grew on Irk and any flowers that you did find on the planet came from Cosovia. Cosovia was big in agriculture while Irk was more of a battle planet. They finally turned to the next page and gasped. This one was the Phalaenopsis. It had to be the most beautiful flower they had ever seen. It had orange petals with purple in the middle and the tips turned a ruby red color. All the colors blended in perfectly. 

"Well, we now no what to look for." Mali said, "To the Greenhouse!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	20. The Celtic Cross

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 20: The Celtic Cross

Cam got out her map and to find any sort of human agricultural area. She found a little square that was labeled "Greenhouse". After staring at Mali for knowing humans grew their plants in "Greenhouses" she cleared her mind and started to concentrate. 

"What's she doing?" Tak asked Mali in awe as Cam turn from human to Irken and floating in mid air. 

"Cam! Stop re-charging! You can't do this in front of the Earth-monkeys someone might see us!" Mali ordered angrily. Cam turned back into a human and floated downward while Mali looked around to see if anyone had witnessed anything. Cam had a worried look on her face. 

"What's wrong?" Tak asked confused.

"It's our sun! It's so far away that I can't re-charge my powers." Cam said concerned, "I still have lots of power but sometimes when we go into missions like these I like to keep it full incase we might have some............difficulty." 

"Look, you still have lots of power! So stop worrying and start teleporting us to the Human Agricultural Area." Mali ordered.

"It's called a 'Greenhouse'." Cam said still a little upset. 

"'Greenhouse' 'Human Agricultural Area' same difference, whatever." Mali replied bored. Cam focused her powers again and as fast a snapshot they telepathically transported from being in the warm walls of the Library to being just outside the greenhouse knee-length in snow. 

"It's freezing! It's........" Mali looked down and saw something that made her black Irken blood chill. 

"What is it, Mali?" Cam asked. 

"Ahhhhh! Get in the greenhouse! Get in the greenhouse! This stuff is frozen Earth Water!" Mali screamed. Although Mali was fearless she and Cam had heard what Zim had said about water. It burned Irken skin with unspeakable pain. All three Irkens and one M.I.M.I. ran through the green gates of the greenhouse.

(A/N: Try saying 'Through the Green Gates of the Greenhouse' three time fast! I know I can't :P.) All four were panting.

"Do you really think that Zim meant it when he used the terms 'unspeakable pain'?" Cam asked.

"I know he did. I know what water feels like too. It's horrible." Tak said in a quiet voice. 

"I don't even want to get near it." Mali said, "Well, at least we're in the greenhouse and hey! It's warm in here!" Although the house of green had no heaters or other energy brining machines it felt like a nice soft blanket that just got out of the dryers. It was a nice feeling. 

"Oooh, look! It's the Phalaenopsis flower!" M.I.M.I. said. Many were surprised to see M.I.M.I. say something. They looked to where M.I.M.I. was pointing it was a beautiful flower. Then, all of a sudden Mali took her human pocket knife and beheaded the flower.

"Hey!" Cam said, "I was looking at it!" 

"Look, later. I wanna get this mission over with. " Mali said, "Poor Zimmy, he actually has to stay on this filthy miserable planet."

"ZIMMY?!?!?! Mali have you lost your mind?" Tak said

"You have a crush on Zim? How cute!" Cam replied.

"You guys can't tell anyone! Especially Zim or the Tallest. Promise?"

"Yeah, promise." Tak answered

"Sure, why not? Promise." Replied Cam. She reached into her human dress pockets and pulled out the map. She pointed to the Celtic Cross and soon there they were. A path had already been cleared so there were no problems with snow. 

"Now what?" Mali asked. Cam pulled out the parchment that showed the banshee, the cross, the bottle of mead, and the Phalaenopsis. 

"According to this cloth we are supposed to lay the shown items down and await the coming of this banshee thing." Cam answered. Tak place the items down and soon a banshee did appear before them but this one was different, instead of being a human like the picture showed she was a Cosovian. She wore a large crown that held the spider web symbol of Atlantis and a white gown. A golden mask that belong to the past Queens of Atlantis covered half of her face and on her feet were golden slippers. Her sickle like tail showed all kinds of ornaments. Mali, Cam, and Tak remembered studying there past before they came to this planet and wondered that if this is the legendary Queen Rhea, the Last Cosovian Queen of Atlantis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	21. Whiskey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


Chapter 21: Whiskey

In a flash Cam used some of her remaining power to change Tak, Mali, and herself into Irkens and M.I.M.I. into a robot.

"Ah, one of my own kind." The ghost said.

"Not really. You're a Cosovian and we are Irkens. Are you really Rhea?" Tak asked.

"Yes, and it's Queen Rhea. I can already sense that much time has passed. Has Creon been stopped? Is Atlantis okay? Who now rules it?" Rhea asked curiously. Cam, Mali, and Tak looked at each other nervously. Which one of them should tell her? Finally Mali stepped forward.

"Hey! You're suppose to help US! The crystals of the Sun have been stolen and we need to find out what's going on. You give us help and we give you information." 

"Very well then." the ghost agreed, "So you have come to me in search of the truth?" 

"No in search of three valuable stones belonging to the Irken empire and the Triskel that belongs to the Queen of Cosovia."

"1. Four rebels have created a dark and sinister plot that for others there may be no future. Two are here in this savage tribe. One, I can sense, is back in time. The other, I can also sense, is in a place that is called 'Cosovia' solving an important matter. 2. Cosovia doesn't exist. I think you mean 'Queen of Atlantis' since there she does reign over both races. 3. What do you mean Irken Empire. I gave you all that I know for now, now you must tell me what's going on." Rhea stated.

Cam replied, "Well, for starters. The people who now live here aren't savages. They're humans."

"What do you mean 'the people who live here'? What about our race?" Rhea asked a little worried.

"We'll tell you when you can give us more hints." Mali said. The ghost queen sighed and replied, "I do have one more thing. Beware of women and of whiskey." and with that she vanished.

"What do you think she meant by that?" Tak asked looking at Cam the psychic Irken.

"I don't know Tak. I just don't know." They stood there for a couple of seconds and then Cam transformed them back into there human appearances. They transported back to the stairs that led to the front door of the house. The walked up the steps and back into there rooms and went back to bed. After a restless night of sleeping or trying to go back to sleep after cleaning all those late hours, Mali got up and locked the door. If someone bugged her one more time she was gonna take out her laser and eradicate someone, even if that would be declaring and jeopardizing the mission. This wasn't fair. Regular invaders got to have underground bases so they could just be truly Irken and not be woke up at all hours of the night. There was a sudden tap on the window. Mali went to the window pulled back the shade and opened it. Cam and Tak got up too since the tapping noise was driving them crazy. 

"M.I.M.I. you can come out now." Tak said as she peered over the bed. M.I.M.I. was there in robot form with a long cable coming out of her chest and plugging into the wall. M.I.M.I. looked down and saw that she was done absorbing energy for the tiring day ahead un-plugged herself. The cable went whooshing up back into her chest. Mali went up and rolled up the shade her fake Earthling hair whooshing everywhere since the window was open.

"G.I.R.!" she gasped out seeing the floating green dog. G.I.R. came through the open window and closed it. 

"Mali who is it?" Tak asked.

"It's Zim's unit, G.I.R." Cam answered once again using her telepathic powers.

"G.I.R.!!!!" yelled someone outside. Mali's heart leaped but only her partner Cam could sense it. Tak went over to the little window and saw a green boy with contacts and a wig pound on the windows. She opened the window and Zim fell in.

"Um, thanks Tak." Zim said. 

He addressed the Irken females, "The Tallest had me bring some supplies since they saw that you might be semi-homesick..."

"WE BROUGHT SNACKS!!!!!!!" G.I.R. yelled.

"Thank the Tallest, I getting sick of this Earth crap." Mali said out loud. Cam change themselves back into Irkens and Zim took off his wig and contacts.

"So, how are ya girls doing?" Zim asked.

"Not good. We're still where we started...M.I.M.I.! What are you doing?" Tak asked. M.I.M.I. pricked up as though she was hearing something. Zim took out the little remote that turned improved G.I.R.'s duty skills. He turned it up to dangerously high knowing the G.I.R. wouldn't remember any of the past events that occurred the last time he tried this. The trick to G.I.R. was not to leave it dangerously high for more than an hour. Zim had a little timer on the remote that went off when he had five more minutes.

"G.I.R.! What can you hear?"

"There is human murmuring! M.I.M.I. can hear it too! The conversation is concerning one of the stolen crystals of Irk." G.I.R. responded. Zim turned the setting down to the regular G.I.R. who yelled, "Hello floor! Make me a sandwich!" which is what G.I.R. always yelled after being turned down. 

"G.I.R.! M.I.M.I.! Change back into your disguises and follow the murmuring!" Tak commanded in which M.I.M.I. obeyed buy G.I.R. looked to his master to see if it was okay.

"Go on G.I.R.! Show Tak what your made of!" Zim said. G.I.R. put on his dog camouflage and followed the cat that was M.I.M.I. Zim, Tak, Cam, and Mali followed the "advanced" S.I.R. units to the library. There they lost the signal because an annoying record player was on with nobody in the room. The follow the signal up the stairs. 

"It's coming from the ceiling!" Zim exclaimed.

"There's a trap door leading to Moira's room." Cam said calmly as she lifted it. The aliens listen to the conversation.

"I'm telling you I have no idea where my father hid the Energy Crystal!" yelled a young girl with short red hair.

"Your father and I kept no secrets from each other and the crystal would without a doubt help me find him. I need to look in his office."

"I never trusted you. You are the last person I would confide in if I knew the slightest detail about the Energy Crystal! And if my father hid the way to his office it's obvious that he didn't want people snooping and sticking their noses where they don't belong, but go try anyway if you want!"

"You suspicious."

"I always wondered what obscured reasons my parents had for putting up with you. When you handed your old distillery to old Ipswich I hoped that you honor us with your visits a little less often. Pity how disappointing things can turn out. I really wonder what you could be concocting in that distillery of yours."

"Whiskey! Fine Whiskey!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	22. Crystal of Energy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 22: Crystal of Energy

"I'm starting to like these humans less and less." Mali said, "Um, Tak, Zim. Your robots are at it again." Indeed they were, for they had raced down the hall and back to the door. By accident G.I.R. knocked down a brief case. 

"Well, look what we've found." Zim said and Tak signaled M.I.M.I. to analyze it. 

"It belongs to the human who was talking to that Moira human." Tak read. Mali took two items. 

"What's this?" Mali asked. Cam looked at it and replied it looked like some kind of old signet ring that had the sign of a raven and Zim explained that humans would leaved there mark that way but that they did that hundreds of years ago.

"Yes, so why now?" Mali wondered out loud. Mali gave the ring to Cam and took out a human letter. 

"Zim you read this, I can't read earthling."

"Actually humans speak lots of languages but I can only read 'English'. The letter says:

Dear Friend,

Don't worry any more about our affair with Edinburgh, we have provided a tailor-made culprit to Scotland Yard. In addition, I confirm my presence for Alban Arthuan.

Respectfully,

Paul Evil

"Paul Evil?!? What kind of name is.." Tak never got to finish her sentence because they heard footsteps coming down. They turned to each other and pretended to be talking. A plump man around his seventies came down, took the briefcase, and went out the door.

"Damn, mutt!" he suddenly cried out for G.I.R. came up and bit him. Tak came over and picked G.I.R. up and said in her fake apology voice.

"I'm sorry if my friend's dog cause you any trouble, sir."

"It's......alright. Now if you'll excuse me I have an....appointment in Edinburgh. Goodbye." He turned around and left while G.I.R. snarled at him.

"He's going to Edinburgh, huh?" Mali said after he left, "Well, while he's away why don't we check out that old distillery of his?" Cam pulled out her map.

"The best thing to do is transport to the 'Stone Bridge' and then take the trail back up and to the left." They did so but Cam senses didn't lead them to the distillery. It lead them to the boat that led to the distillery. Cam gasped.

"What is it?" Mali asked her partner.

"W-water." Cam said pointing. Mali looked at it. So this was the terrifying liquid that could defeat the Irkens.

"If we just stay in the boat the water won't hurt us." Tak said trying to calm Cam down. It was an old, wooden, rickety boat, and Zim looked at it and wondered if it could ever really make as far as the distillery. Everyone got in and Mali grabbed the oars that were on the other side of the boat and started to row through the water. Cam used her super vision and stared at the water. She saw many things that she had never seen before.

"Zim, Mali, what's that?" she said pointing to a creature that came up to the surface, looking for food. It was long, scaley, and had eyes on the side of it's head.

"That's a fish." Zim said, "Sometimes humans keep these as pets or eat them as a meal." Cam watched amazed on how the fish swam through the water without burning and her eyes grew wide when Tak told her that fish needed water to survive. At last they reached the distillery. The human that everyone seem to call, "Ipswich" came into the distillery door. He looked around and gave his best, "You are NOT welcome" face and he went inside....with a fully loaded rifle. The Irkens got out of the boat and went to the door. When Mali knocked on it Ipswich yelled at her, "We're closed!". M.I.M.I. and G.I.R. were looking around and something shiny had caught G.I.R.'s robotic eye.

"Ooo, shiny." G.I.R. followed the shine, with M.I.M.I. closely behind him, in between some barrels. It was a pair of pliers. 

G.I.R. heard his master say, "There's always something to be found deep in a deep, dark cellar." They looked around to the other side where a water wheel was flowing water into a trough through a door that had been locked and, with no doubt, into the basement. The enemy seemed to know that they were Irkens and the Irken's secret with water.

"Look, they've locked the entrance! With locks!" Zim said but then G.I.R. came over. He looked at his shiny pair of pliers and he analyze how strong they were. He clipped the chain that held the doors shut.

"G.I.R., M.I.M.I.! You two stay here!" Zim and Tak chorused. They looked at each other and then went through the door. The floor was littered with old bottles of whiskey. 

"Somebody had a party last night." Cam said.

Mali did her usual duty of giving out orders, "Zim you're the smallest so you have to take this and knock him out with it. Take everything that you think is important." Mali took the bottle of the chloroform and drenched the rag with it's contents. She gave it to Zim, he saluted, and, trying carefully not to kick any of the glass, went through a second pair of doors, this time though, unlocked. Invader Zim quietly sneaked his way into the office. He silently opened the door. Ipswich didn't even know he was in there. Zim grabbed him by the throat and stuffed the rag over his face making sure to cover the nose and mouth. Zim was a madman and a little incompetent but he was one of the strongest Irkens ever. Ipswich struggled for a little while and then he became very still. Zim let him fall on his desk. He picked up a small leather bag and opened it. The title read: The Grand Book of Kelia: Crystals and ogams. He also notice a cane and, by accident, he flipped open the top part which revealed a small key. Zim also decided to take the cane with him. He quietly snuck back to the others and they quietly snuck back outside. 

"Truly I am amazing!" Zim said holding out The Grand Book of Kelia. Tak rolled her human eyes.

"Okay, AMAZING one. How do we get past the water to get into the cellar?" 

"We'll use this to stop the water wheel from dumping water into the trough." Mali said taking the cane and stopping it with the water wheel. Everyone stared at Mali.

"What? She said 'amazing one', right? I thought she was talking to me!" The snuck back through the first door, waited until the water drained out. When it did they found that a trap door was hidden under the water.

"Why would they put a door underwater?" Zim wondered out loud.

"Use your brains Zim! They did it so that Irkens like ourselves wouldn't find whatever they're hiding." Tak snapped. The opened the trap door carefully, since the door was still very wet and went inside. The air had a strong sent of malt liquor. In the room was a generator with a rope, a chest, and, of all things, an electric chair. Cam went over to the chest and opened it. The chest was small, light in weight, and had a raven symbol on it, just like the signet ring. She opened it to reveal two circular amber disks and two circular silver disks.

"These were the disks that were stolen from 'Edinburgh'!" Mali exclaimed. Then she paused and went on to say, "What's an Edinburgh anyway?"

"It this nation's capital city." Cam said. Then she moved the electric chair out of the way. 

"Just as I thought a door! But it's locked!"

"Hey, look at the key opening." Tak said. The looked and it looked like a raven too.

"Do you think that we can use the signet ring to open it?" Mali asked.

"There's only one way to find out." Cam said as she used the signet ring like a key. The door opened and it revealed itself to be an underground path. The air was dark and musty. The Irken soldiers kept hearing footsteps as though Ipswich had woken up and started to follow them. They came to a room with three different passage ways. One had the sign of the cross on it. They ran to that room only to find a door with no handle or keyhole. They took another sign that had a raven on it. They ran to that one to find a pillar with the signs of the zodiac on it. There was a hole on the top of the ceiling there but they couldn't make out what it was. As they were leaving to take the last route they couldn't help but notice a human skeleton was there. They went down the last route that had a dragon on it. It led to a basement filled with diving equipment. 

"Where should we go now?" Tak asked.

Mali stood there and thought for a moment, "We should go to the library and see if we can find anything about this lizard symbol thingy."

"It's called a 'dragon'." Cam corrected her.

"Yeah, whatever." Cam used her psychic powers and they found themselves once again in the warmer (and much more pleasant) library. Mali noticed the niche in the wall. There was a stone in the wall that also had the symbol of a dragon. When Mali pressed the cane against the stone it opened a passage way.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" Cam asked. Mali shrugged and showed everyone what she had found. The room inside was obviously the room that Moira was talking about; Her father's office. G.I.R. took the shiny chest key and opened a pair of doors. While everyone else was looking around for another clue or even another crystal G.I.R. was playing with the safe in the drawer. It had Latin words carved into it and instead of a dial safe, there were slots with letters in them.

"Ooh, look at the pretty words." he remarked. Mali, interested at Zim's crazy robot, came over to have a look.

"Foedus Francorum Cum Scotis Anno Dominici?" Mali read off the words engraved in the safe, "Cam what does that mean?"

Cam read the graving, it took a little while but finally it came to her, "The writings are from the 'Auld Alliance Treaty'. I think that if we match the safe letters with the date it would open the safe." Cam took out the treaty papers and moved the slots so that they read, "MCCXCV". The safe opened revealing a very important paper. On it was a chair with instructions on how to move the parts and a picture of a glove made out of chain-mail.

(A/N: For those of you who haven't studied the days of knights chain mail is tiny metal rings that loop around each other so the knight won't get punctured by a spear or sword. They were very heavy and unbearable in hot, humid weather.)

They went up the creaky stairs and soon came upon the chair that was told in the papers. 

"Do you think we should open the chair and then get the glove or get the glove and then open the chair?" Tak asked.

"Maybe we should get the glove first." Zim said a little nervous. As they went further up the stairs they saw a door that led to some kind of lab with experiments. On a table they found what they were looking for.

"Look! The glove." Tak cried out.

"Look! A window handle!" G.I.R. cried out after that, "I gonna name her Lucy."

"A window handle named, 'Lucy'?" Mali said.

"Don't be mean to Lucy!!!" G.I.R. yelled and cuddled with the window handle. M.I.M.I. gave G.I.R. a stare that plainly read, "Um, don't you think it might be a little odd that a green dog is cuddling with a window handle." G.I.R. gave M.I.M.I. a stare that also plainly read, "Yes!......wait a minute........I don't know." M.I.M.I. shook her cat like head and followed the Irken soldiers and G.I.R. that had left and were now fiddling with the chair. Zim had put on the chain-mail glove and Tak was getting the chair to open. It was an old fashion chair that had two buttons on the top and two bar like levers on the bottom. Doing just as the instructions commanded her she pushed the left button then the right button, lifted the right arm of the chair and then the left arm, pulled down the right lever and then the left. The result caused the seat of the chair to pull up and there was the Energy Crystal, a brilliant crystal in a magenta sort of color. As Zim touched it he must of triggered some kind of sensor because suddenly a spear with a mixture of water and foxglove shot out and struck Zim. Because he was wearing the mail-chain glove Zim wasn't infected with the deadly poison.

"Zim, you alright?" Tak asked.

"Yes." Zim said.

"Damn." Tak muttered.

"What?"

"Never mind." While Zim and Tak were arguing Mali noticed that someone had walked in but she couldn't see the whole organism. Just the bottom of a maid's outfit. Mali could tell that, like them, it was an Irken in disguise. With a cold hard laugh. And a large, glinting, axe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	23. The Moat

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 23: The Moat

Suddenly the door slammed and large footsteps could be held coming up the stairs.

"Quick! Out that window! I'll explain later." Mali grabbed Lucy the window handle and opened the window with it.

"Lucy!" G.I.R. cried, "I'll never let go Lucy! I'll never let go!" Mali then took the ladder they had found and started getting people down as fast as she could. First G.I.R., then M.I.M.I., then Tak, then Zim, then Cam, and then herself. As she went down she looked at where they were heading. It was one long fall and as Mali looked up she saw that the axe had cut the rope. Down they went into the moat of the castle. Cam herself had never quite felt water before but now she knew that Zim wasn't exaggerating. It was as if a thousand white hot knives were plunging into her skin. Burning all her nerves and destroying her senses, but it wouldn't stop. It happened again and again and finally Mali couldn't hold herself to swim any longer. The water was swallowing her strength and pulled her underneath the surface. It took Mali a few minutes to find out that fish could breath underwater but Irkens can't. She tried to breath but it only suck in water which burned her Ziox, the type of lungs Irkens had. In the Irken Military Schooling Academy Irkens were placed as either Soldiers or Students but they both had to undergo some physical training and one of them had to deal with pain. So that they could carry on where others would fall but Mali nor Cam had ever felt this twisted sensation of pain and agony. All Cam could do was remain afloat, she didn't have enough energy to use her powers or even keep her eyes open for she felt as though she was on the sun. Trying to get out, trying to keep her Ziox filled with oxygen. Finally for both of the Right Hands, they were knocked out unconscious and everything went dark. Cam opened her eyes a couple hours later. She was staring at a face, an Irken face. With larger purple eyes and bendy antennas. 

"My Tallest?" Cam asked and Purple nodded. Cam sat up the Massive was orbiting around Earth. She was in the hospital wing and was thankful for it. Cam wondered how Invaders could stand being away from home for so long. 

"Lay back Cam." Purple said, "You've been hurt pretty badly." Cam looked at herself and notice that her skin looked as though it had been in a nuclear explosion. Her rough Irken skin had be burned and her antennas were limp. It hurt for her to see and breath but now that the water was sucking up and away from her it hurt less and less. She looked out the window at the blue planet. Two small figures were standing in the way: Dib and Gaz.

"I don't know how you stand to be on that planet." Cam heard a voice and when she moved her head to the right there was Mali strapped down to stop her from fidgeting so much.

"Well, if you don't like it, why don't you call your little alien friends off our planet?" Dib snapped.

"Why should we?"

"Enough!" Red said and everyone was silent, "I'm afraid to say that Zim is badly injured." Red didn't sound like he was sorry, in fact he almost sounded pleased, but nobody said this to the Tallest. 

"Cam, Tak, and Mali must go on." Purple said and Cam nodded. 

"My Tallest." she gasped.

"Yes?" Purple asked.

"How did we get out? The water, I mean." Purple sighed and replied.

"Well Zim swam out first then he rescued everyone else and called the Massive."

"Zim can swim?"

"Yes, he's used to the water even though he still feels the same pain when he first touched it. When we found him he looked like he was dying so we put him in the emergency room. So, as you may know, he's in no condition to do anything for about three weeks. Now get some sleep, tomorrow's a big day." Cam nodded and fell back on the bed, glad to be among her kind once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	24. The Cosovian Triskel

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 24: Cosovian Triskel

Mali, Tak, and Cam had slipped back into the hidden office of Mr. McFarley. 

"The Tallest said that we were suppose to give the Scotland yard humans a code and retrieve the documents that the McFarley human had given them." Cam had an eerie feeling about the office, how the place creaked and the water angrily against castle walls. Angry at losing, angry at being defeated. Cam searched around the drawers and found a silver key and a Indian dagger. Cam took the silver key and went up stairs with the others. They passed the chair that the found the Crystal of Energy and shuddered, remembering Zim. Mali, Tak, Cam, and M.I.M.I. went up into the laboratory. Mali took the silver key and it opened into the observatory. It was filled with odd, human-like machinery. At one point there was a flip board with the all the human numbers on it. Cam took out her Memorandum and looked at it. She looked at the list of places with numbers for contact.

"Let's try this." she said and she flipped the numbers: 95612 but nothing happened.

"Hey? What is this?" Mali cried out, "Make it work Cam!" 

"Wait a mili-sec, hold your damn squeedely-spooch !" Cam restarted the machine and looked down the list.

"Inspector Pukkabrain." she read. Cam flipped the numbers 75436. A bulb lighted then Cam flipped Loch Ness's ID number 65. Tak put a code marked 'Sirdach Chapel' on a small counter on the machine. Then the finger prints and then Nessie's photograph. They waited two minutes and then a ring went on. Tak put a piece of paper on the opposite counter. The paper was taken in by the machine and spat out again with writing.

"We have received your request, we are studying the information you have brought us, you may count upon receiving a reply sometime this afternoon.

P.S.: Your photograph of the Loch Ness Monster is captivating." 

"Now what do we do?" Tak asked.

"What do you mean?" Cam asked, "Did you see all the experiments here? Let's play with stuff!"

"But isn't dangerous to mix chemicals and electrical machines?" Mali said

"So?" Cam asked.

"You can't beat that logic!" Tak said as she and Mali ran down stairs. Cam however noticed a cabinet. She pulled out a note book on the inside was some writing: "First tests of a generation of holograms made from special properties of the three newly discovered crystals. Works undertaken by Sir Allistar McFarley in collaboration with Bruce McGrab assisted by Avit Kumar Shastra." Cam couldn't read this of course but on the next page there were drawings on how to use a certain machine. 

"Hey guys I think I found something. Tak what does this say?" Tak read and Mali worked the machine. 

"Let's see....you put the silver disks on the thingamabobs, put the gold disk on the doohickeys, put the crystal in the middle, and....hey, what's this?"

"It's a Raven." Tak read.

"I think I saw on of those up stairs." Cam said. She went up and back to the cabinet and took out a Raven statuette. She placed it on top of the machine. Suddenly, energy flowed through the disks on concentrated on the Energy Crystal. The crystal's energy flew up into the Raven statuette and the Raven made another image that looked just like the statuette. The image however read, "If you seize the Cosovian Triskel only the raven will know how to open the path." There was a small ring which meant that the human communication machine have received something. Tak grabbed the Raven and the Energy Crystal and ran upstairs with the others. M.I.M.I. took the paper and read it:

"Scotland Yard December 19, 2002

Sir:

Here is the information we can provided with you at the time: The fingerprints you sent us are those of Bruce MacGrabb formerly a physical chemistry professor who has since become a negotiator in the whiskey trade, residing in London, proprietor of the Devil's Ridge Distillery. Two other documents will be sent to you; the message confided to us by Lord MacFarley and your photograph. PS: We would like to know a bit more concerning these "monsters" because the silhouette that we have highlighted on the photograph is very similar to that of the submarine HMS Grondo Conquero. A model on which Lord MacFarley has worked in collaboration with the Royal Navy's military.

Chief Inspector Pukkabrain."

M.I.M.I. took the paper of the HMS Grondo Conquero and showed it to her master. It looked like a toy submarine with a small quickly sketched picture of a floating sea serpent over it.

"Well that's helpful." Tak muttered.

M.I.M.I. read Mac Farley's message.

"The Crystals are meaningless without the Cosovian Triskel buried in the Chapel. The key is found behind the painting in my office." 

"Now that better." Mali said. All four of them went down stairs and moved aside the painting. There was another niche in the wall but this niche had a small white box. Unfortunately the box was locked.

"Damn box!" Mali yelled as she continued to smash it against the wall. Cam however wrestled the box away from Mali, with much success, and began to pick the lock with an Indian Dagger she found on the desk. Inside was an old chapel key and a poem:

"I am the stones of power

But also the messenger of the gods.

I will half open the passage

To the one who in the proper order

Will know how to write my name"

"What does that mean?" Cam asked.

"Something about a chapel so lets go to the chapel." Mali said and soon Cam transported them to the chapel without their disguises.

"Guys, I'm almost out of power." Cam said. "It won't be long until I'm powerless."

"Which explains why you couldn't fly when we fell someone cut the rope we were going down."

"I can fly?" Cam asked in surprise. 

"Of course you can! It's what you get when you have Extra Sensory Perception."

"I didn't know I could fly." Cam said and Mali gave out a little groan. "It doesn't matter now, what does matter is that we find the Triskel before someone else does." Mali tried to put the key in but it broke off as she was turning it. 

"Well that sucks." Cam used just a tiny bit more of her sensory powers.

"There's another way to get inside." she remarked, "I'll be right back." Cam then ran back to the docks where they got the boat and used the pair of pliers that G.I.R. had found and opened the lock. Inside, just as she predicted, was a rope and a lard hook. She tied the rope to the hook to make a small grappling hook. She came back and gave it to Mali. Cam flew on the roof and signaled Mali to throw the grappling hook and come up with her. 

"One, two, three" Mali said and through the hook up. It grabbed on to something and Cam yelled that it was sturdy. Cam, Tak, and M.I.M.I. and crawled up. There on one wall of the church was a large panel with lots of little symbols. Tak thought for a long time. What had the poem said? I will half open the passage to the one who in the proper order will know how to write my name. Sirdach! That was the name. 

"Mali, do have the book of Kelia?" Tak asked. Mali grabbed the book and tossed it to Tak. She opened the book and then started looking at the English writing compared to the Druid writing. On the wall was a circle and on the inside of these circle was circular stone buttons. These were large buttons and on those buttons were a Druid symbol. Tak pushed them in an order to spell Sirdach the circle opened half way. Cam could float down but Tak and Mali used the grappling hook. The Chapel was very old and there were pieces of stone lying everywhere with small wooden pews that were torn up as though a tornado hit it. Around them were short pillars with crude figures that faced different parts of the wall. Yet there were cobwebs all around that showed that it had been this way for centuries. Tak went to one wall and brushed away some dust and found writing that said:

"Risen from ancient times,

King, Queen, and Knight will cross

glances and discover the path of 

the inexpressible power" 

Tak moved the stone statues so that they may all see each other and a trap door appeared. As they entered they saw the Cosovian Triskel the Inexpressible power. 

"This is it?" Mali asked. "Just an old metal thing."

"It's only an old metal thing now." Cam said, "But when join with the crystals it is invincible. That's why we need it to get back to Irk and Cosovia." Cam picked up the Triskel from it's pillar but the pillar sank. The place was booby-trapped! Yet what had the raven said? "If you seize the Cosovian Triskel only the raven will know how to open the path." 

"The raven! Tak put the raven on the pestle!" Tak did as she was told and the pillar lowered all the way on the ground and door opened for them to get out. They snucked back all the way to the manner. It was nightfall for them. They had every thing except for the Solar Crystal. They climbed up and onto the roof and looked at the stars, trying to find which direction is Irk.

"I can't wait to go home." Mali said, "How does Zim stand these meat-things?"

"I don't know." Cam said, "But I miss my old job with the Tallest." 

"Me too. Making fun of galactic senators behind there backs, egging democrats when they come to our planet preaching democracy, betting on which of the short things might be wiped out first, yeah that was the life. These humans, how can they stand each other? How can they go on with out someone else from another planet visiting or even going somewhere? I'll never under stand these meat-people-things." Tak on the other had something else on her mind, like her test to proving to everyone that she could be a great Invader. She closed her eyes and imagined how everyone would be cheer for her at every victory and she would gather with her fellow Invaders and talk and boast and the species they conquered and the planets they've been to and how tall they grew at each one. Tak couldn't wait to go home too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	25. Into the Loch Ness

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 25: Into the Loch Ness

Tomorrow they woke up excited.

"Remember to calm down, you guys, we're not out of hot water yet." Cam warned them. They walked quietly down stairs with M.I.M.I. following at their footsteps. There was a gigantic roar and they all rushed to the window. They saw the Loch Ness Monsters up close. They were tall, green figures, with rippling muscles and slimy skin. Hake like eyes and razor sharp teeth. But one of them was different. It seemed less solid, like a image or an illusion. They ran outside and down to the Mohair were the fake monster was. Mali picked up a seemingly solid rock and it crumpled in her hand, like ashes.

"I think that it's about time that we see what goes on in that lake." she said quietly.

"You don't mean..." Tak said.

"We have no choice." Cam said and they stared off into the dark legions of the lake with it's beautiful but deadly water. They ran to the cellar where old diving equipment laid. There was only one set of useable diving equipment.

"Who's gonna go in?" Tak asked.

"I will." Cam said almost silently.

"You sure?" said Mali.

Cam nodded yes although the thought of her anywhere near the substance was truly terrifying. She still couldn't forget how the water had burned her skin and almost killed Zim. Although Mali was no coward she wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of going anywhere near that lake. Her antennas twitched nervously. While the others went out to the lake Mali went to outside and to the greenery. There was a wheel barrow and a hose. She took that back inside the cellar and got a few more things and then, using Irken strength, picked up the wheel barrow and a large pump that was there and took it to the others as they stared into the lake.

"You're almost out of your powers and we need to save as much as possible. So use this instead of a bubble to keep water from touching your skin." Mali reached into the wheel barrow, brought out a diving suite, and handed it to Cam.

"What's this piece of rag?" Cam said angry that her powers were fading.

"This 'rag' is called a diving suite. Humans put these things on like Irken jump suites in order to keep there bodies from being wet. Hopefully it'll do the same for you." Tak replied. Cam raised an eye at the thin piece of rubber that supposedly would keep her from enormous pain but put it on anyway. It seemed to cling to her body though.

"Instead of mutilating the earths atmosphere around you to keep you underwater use this."

"Boots made out of metal?" Cam asked. Mali and Tak nodded and Cam put them over her feet. Mali took the hose and attached one end to the pump and the other end to a small circular metal object that Cam wasn't familiar with. 

"Put this on your head. Then go in the water to investigate. Tak is going to our room to guard the Celtic Triskel and the two crystals we have so far. I'll feed you air through the hose on the helmet with the pump." Cam put the helmet over on her head where it squished her antennas. She went down into the water with Mali working to feed her air. Cam looked around for a marking place back up to the surface and found a bicycle that someone threw in. The water was serene and peaceful when it wasn't trying to kill you. She saw the Loch Ness Monsters dip in and out as though they were playing in it. Others chase after little fish and snapped at a few and ate them. Cam explored the lake when she came upon something that looked like broken glass. She picked it up and was confirmed that it was broken glass yet, luckily it didn't break her suite. Finally she heard a "CCCCRRRAAACCKKK" sound and realized that she had stepped into a skeleton, an Irken skeleton. She ran from it as far as she could until finally she bumped into a wall. A large metal wall that was covered with seaweed .When Cam used the broken glass to scrape it off she found it was a wall with the symbol of a Raven.

Well one thing's been living in Loch Ness, that's for sure. Cam turned around to go tell the others until she noticed it was getting harder for her to breath. An idea finally went through her head. Mali had stopped feeding her air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	26. The Revealing of Akt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Lies Beneath

by

~Miriah~of~the~Wind~

Chapter 26: The Revealing of Akt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cam tried to run as fast as an Irken gasping for oxygen with twenty pounds of metal weighing them down. She calmed down and found the Irken Skeleton and something told Cam that it hadn't been there since Invader Zim first arrived on the planet. She used this as a marker and found her way to the broken glass. She stepped to the right of a sleeping Loch Ness Monster and looked around. This was familiar....the slope! It had the tossed out bicycle. Mali ran up the granite rock slope and tossed herself off as though she was a flounder and yanked her helmet off. After five minutes of breathing deeply in and out she took off the diving suite and the boots. She got up to look for her partner.

"Mali you bitch! You're gonna...Mali!" There were lines in the dirt that, as Cam followed them, led all the way to the docks that led to the distillery. Putting two and two together and realizing that Mali was too physically strong for someone to try and fighter her Cam now knew what happened. Someone had snuck up on Mali and knocked her out before she could put up a struggle and while Cam was underwater thus killing two birds with one stone. Suddenly a scream came out followed by a large crash. Tak! Cam followed the screams inside the library but it was too late. Tak was gone....and so was the Triskel and the two Crystals.

"They took her..." Cam turned to find the old lady looking around the ram sacked room.

"Ipswich took her. Said the Triskel was his....He took her to the distillery. If you need any help there's a revolver in my room." The Lady seemed to be more frightened of the welfare of Tak then of the fact that she was in the presence of an alien warrior. Cam ran up stairs, grabbed the revolver, and headed toward the docks and eventually towards the distillery. Cam snuck back to the water wheel and entered through the back way. After passing the two doors into the distillery she heard the door lock behind her. The maid.

"Oh, shit. She's starting this again. Ok. Let's keep cool." There was only way out through the distillery's front door. With that Cam went forward and heard heavy breathing. She turned and found the maid smacked her hard against her head with the butt of a .48 revolver and with that Cam was knocked out unconscious. When she recovered she found that she was in the basement with the electric chair.

"That Irken's a walking talking hang over. Vengeance will be mine!" Cam looked around quickly, there was no telling when that traitor would come back and finish her off, when she saw a motor.

"There's not much power in it." she checked using a machine from her backpack, "But it's enough to pull the bars away from the window and set me free." Cam looked around and found a leather strap that hung on the wall. She tied one end to the engine and one to the bars of the window. Cam was almost as tall as a sub-tallest but even so she had to jump up to escape through the window. As she jumped out her heard a small click. Out came the maid with the revolver pointed at Cam's chest. Yet the maid-she was a he. It had a deep voice like that of a male.

"You should've stay on your planet and not mess with the best."

"And you have yet to mess with the rest." Cam responded. She grabbed her own rifle and shot the traitor. The human image suddenly flickered and faded as he fell to the floor. It was Akt, brother of Tak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
